Bill-fold.



S. L. WENTZ.

BILL FOLD. APPLIOATION FILED AUG. 2, 1907.

932,205. Patented Aug. 24, 1909.

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WITNESSES: L I mvmon; 2/671? 5 BH\UE1L.WEI\L 2 M14 3 ATTORNEYS S. L.WENTZ. BILL FOLD. APPLICATION FILED AUG. 2, 1907. 932,205. Patented Aug.24, 1909.

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1 1 4 3 5 fi i'loy la 2 5 WITNESSES: 3 7 v INVENTOR'. /677 EarqualL.WE1'\ tZ M am BY I g A RCQQA/CL I ATTORNEYS Urnrnn sra rns rg rnn'rOFFICE.

SAMUEL I. WENTZ, 0F NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

BILL-FOLD.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL L.-WENTZ, a citizen of the United States,residing at NeW- ark, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey,have invented certain new and useful 1m rovements in Bill-Folds; and Ido hereby dec are the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to whichit appertains to make and use the same, reference being hadto the accompanying drawings, and to characters of reference markedthereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates, generally, to that class of pocket-books knownin the art as bill-foldsjand, the invention has reference, moreparticularly, to a novel, simple and neat construction of bill-fold,comprising two main foldable sections or elements, each section beingprovided with a retaining or holding member, and all being constructedand arranged in such a manner, that a stack of bills can easily be heldin their folded relation between the two cover-sections of the billfold,without producing an unsightly package.

This invention has for its further object to rovide a bill-fold of thegeneral character ereinafter set forth, the same being of such aconstruction, that any one or more of the bills, can be removed with theleast inconvenience, and without being compelled to remove the entirestack of bills from the billfold, as has new ordinarily to be done withthe various forms of pocket-books or billfolds at present in use.

Other objects of this invention not at this time more particularlymentioned will be clearly understood from the following detaileddescription of my present invention.

Theinvention consists, therefore, in the novel bill-fold hereinaftermore fully described; and, furthermore, this invention consists in thevarious novel arrangements and combinations of parts, as well as in thedetails of the construction of the same, all of which will be more fullydescribed in the fol lowing specification, and then finally embodied inthe claim which is appended to and which forms an essential part of thisspecification.

The invention is clearly illustrated in the accompanying drawings, inwhich Figure l is a face view of a bill-fold, with the foldable sectionsin their folded or closed Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Aug.24, 1909.. Application filed August 2, 1967. I

Serial No. 386,755.

.cover-sections of the bill-fold. Fig. 4 is a similar view to that shownin said Fig. 3, with the stack of bills removed, said view showing morearticularly the arrangement of a pair of bil -holding or retainingmembers or elements each one of which is secured along one of thenarrower marginal edges of the foldable sections of the bill-fold in ahinge-like manner. Fig. 5 is a cross-section taken on line 55 in saidFig. 1, said section being made on an enlarged scale; Fig. 6 is atransverse section taken on line 66 in Fig. 4, said section being madeon an enlarged scale;

and Fig. 7 is a similar section, taken on line 77 in said Fig. 4, saidview being likewise made on an enlarged scale. Figs. 8 and 9 are twodetail plan views of the connecting strap or band by means of which thetwo main foldable sections of the bill-fold can be secured in theirclosed relation.

Similar characters of reference are employed in all of the said abovedescribed views to indicate corresponding parts.

Referring now to the accompanying draw ings, the reference-character 1indicates the complete bill-fold, the same being made of any softmaterial, such as leather of the va- 'rious kinds, so as to produce anornate article of manufacture of great use, and which is readily carriedin the pocket. The main body of the bill-fold comprises two maincover-sections or members 2 and 3 which are integrally connected at 4,so as to be adapted to be folded one upon the other in a hinge-likemanner. At their marginal edgeportions, these'sections or members 2 and3 are usually formed with folded or turned over portions 5, and 6indicates a suitable inner lining made of leather, or any other suitablematerial.

Suitably secured in a hinge-like manner along or of the narrowedge-portions of the main section or element 2, upon the inner portionof the device, by means of stitches 7, or other suitable fasteningmeans, is a substantially rigid or stiff body, member or element 8,usually made of the same material as the section 2, a facing 9 beingreferably arranged and secured upon sai body or member. A leather orother suitable ele ment is secured upon said facing 9,said

element 10 being doubled upon itself, as at 11, and the turned overmarginal edge-portion 12 being sewed fast to the said main section orelement 2 by means of the previously mentioned stitches 7, as will beclearly understood-from an inspection of Fig. 6 of the drawings.

The space between the element 10 and the doubled-over ortion 11 ma beprovided with a suitabe lining, as 13; the various parts being suitablyarranged to rovide a pocket or receptacle 14 into whie1 may be sli ped acard of identification, or the like. Li ewise there 'is secured in ahinge-like manner along the corresponding edge-portion of the other mainsection or element 3, upon. the inner portion of the device, by

toning means, a substantially rigid or stiff element ,-or -body l6,usually made ofthe sajme rnat erial" as the section 3, said elementor-ib'ody'lfi' being provided with the folded or'iturned-ov'eredge-portions 17 and a facing J18, substantiallyas shown in said Fig. 7of the drawings.- Owing to the substantially rigid or, stiff characterof these two holding or retaining elements which are thus. fastenedalong one of their marginal edge-portions to the inner faces of the mainbodysections or members of the bill-fold, theseelements have spring-likecharacteristics, so that their normal. tendenc is to forcibly bind uponthe inner faces 0 the main bodyseetions of the bill-fold, so that anyoneor more bills, when. arranged between the arts, in the mannerillustrated in said ig. 1 of the drawings, will be securely andositively held in position between the two fbldable members or sections2 and 3 of the bill-fold, whether in their closed or opened relations,as will be clearly understood.

As will be noticed more particularly from an inspection of Figs. 5, 6and 7, the turned over .marginal edge-portions of the two main body orcover-sections 2 and 3 are preferably pressed into such shape, thattheir edges will form flexibly disposed flanges, whereby the parts willassume,

when closed upon each other, the relative positions substantially asindicated in Fig. 5 of the drawings, according to the th1ckness of thestack of hills which is held in place between the two foldable sections2- and 3.

Having thus described the general-construction of the bill-fold, I willnow briefly describe its use and the manner of lacing and removing oneor more bills in t eir secured or held positions between the twofoldable main sections and the inner holding of retaining members orelements of the device. After having opened or unfolded the two sections2 and 3 1n the-manner shown in said 7 device. means of stitches 15, oroth'ersuitable fas- Fig. 4 of the drawings, the bills 19, either one ormore of them, are arranged directly beneath the spring-like holdin orretaining members orelements, with about one-third of the l'en gth, as20, of the bill or bills extending beyond. the edge-portion of thesection 2. Before closing the two sections 2 and 3, the portion20 of thebill or bills is folded over upon and over the upper face of the holdingor retainin member or element which is con- 7 5 nected wit the section2, substantially as clearly illustrated in Fig. 3 of the drawings, afterwhich the two main body or cover-sections 2 and 3, with the stack ofbills held between them, are folded to ether in the manner indicated inFigs. 1 ant 2 of the drawings, the parts being held together by means 0a fastening device 21, or other suitable locking This fastening deviceconsists, essentially, of a pair of hollow bands or straplike sections22 and 23, made so that the end: portion of one section will slip overor te le scope with the other section, anelastic band or webbing 24being arranged within the tubular or hollow sections 22 and 23. Theendportion of one of said sections, as 22, is suitably fastened to thesection 3, the other section, as 23, being rovided with any formof catch25, having t e usual head-receiving depression 26, see Figs. 3 and 4,for springing 5 said catch 25 in holding engagement with a suitablebutton upon the other body or coverseetion 2of the device, said button,however, in this instance not being shown. 'The use and operation of thestrap or bandand its holding catch are evident, and neec' not be furtherdescribed.

To remove one or more of the bills from the stack, all that is necessaryis to unfold thefolded-over portion 20 of the said stack, so 5 that theo erator can select thev bill or bills desired, t 1e bill or billsthereupon being pulled from the stack without in the least disturbingthe relative ositions of the other bills, which are still he din theirplace by the previously described holding or. retaining members orelements in the manner set forth in the foregoing specification. Byslightly raising or lifting said holding or retaining elements ormembers into their angular positions, substantially as shown in saidFigs. 6 and 7 of the drawings, it will be evident, that any one or morebills can be readily placed in osition between the foldable sections ofthe ill-fold, or between or upon a stack of bills already held in place.

I am fully aware that some changes may be made in the variousarrangements and combinations of parts, as well as in the details oftheconstruction of the same, without departing from the scope of thepresent invention, as defined in the appended claim.

Hence, I do not limit my invention to the exact arrangemcnts andcombinations of the I various parts as described in the foregoingspecification and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, nor do Iconfine myself to the exact details. of the construction of the saidarts.

I c aim: I

A bill-fold com rising a pair of main foldable sections, sai sectionsbeing connected in a hinge-like manner and said two sections when intheir 0 ened relation beingcbut about two-thirds the ength of a bill,the marginal edge-portions of each section bein doubledover and providedwith an inward y extending and flexible marginal flange, so as toprovide a receiving depression in each main sec tion, a holding orretaining element arranged in each receiving de ression,"and meansextending along one o the narrower edge-portions of each retainingelement consisting of stitches for securing each retaining element in ahinge-like manner Within a receiving depression in each main section,one of said retaining elements being longer than the other element, saidlonger element being provided with a card-receiving pocket, all arrangedthat a' stack of bills can be placed beneath. said retaining elements,with one end-portion of the stack of bills projecting beyond one of thebill-fold sections and the edge of said lon er retaining element andadapted to be fol ed over said element, substantially as and for thepurposes set forth.

In testimony, that I claim the invention set forth above I have hereuntoset my hand this 1st dayof August, 1907.

' SAMUEL L. WENTZ.

Witnesses:

FREDK. C. FRAENTZEL, GEO. D. RICHARDS.

